Ark of the Nethirym
by Original-Elfkin
Summary: Cidolfus' old research surfaces along with an ancient evil & a plot to overthrow Larsa with a new SunCryst. In the middle of it all Balthier & Vaan must learn to love without lies or misunderstanding. BalxVaan--Revenant Wing canon ignored and/or mangled.
1. Prologue

**Ark of the Nethirym**

Prologue

Vaan sat on empty dock crates watching his ship out of the corner of his eye--his attention flitting between the maps he was _supposed_ to be studying, the Bangaa loading stores into his airship, and the team of Moogles starting the fuel-up.

He sighed and rubbed at the small frown starting to crease his brow. _Non-_crew sniffing around the Galbana just plain made him nervous. It hadn't been all that long ago that Ashe finally saw fit to push through paperwork to settle an official deed on the ship--so that Vaan could legally port her throughout the continents. It hadn't escaped his notice that the cost had been nothing short of owing his wings to the grace of a woman who had no problems using his ship as leverage for the occasional _service_.

Vaan snorted at himself. A sky pirate on a leash

The situation left a bad taste in his mouth, something akin to what he'd felt long ago during the Archadian occupation when living in Rabanastre had meant needing permission to walk the very streets he'd been born to. It rubbed the wrong way, and it rubbed especially bad considering what that the woman holding the leash was someone he'd helped put in power. Someone he'd once thought was above using people like that. It was quite probably the reason he was so sensitive about anyone laying hands on _his_ pride and joy. To Ashe, the Galbana was nothing more than a bargaining chip. To Vaan the Galbana was more than a mere airship. She was the culmination of most of his wildest dreams. Strings attached or not, she was proof positive that fortune favored the desperate.

Vaan was about to give up all pretense of trying to study the maps when he was rescued from admitting defeat by Penelo--arriving with a small crate in her arms. She seemed to change gears momentarily, tilting her head and eyeing him critically. She followed his gaze skipping around the work crews again and plunked down the crate--knotting her fists on her hips. "Vaan, they _aren't_ here to peel off any hull plates and they _aren't_ here to steal the skystone." Her voice held just a hint of reproach beneath the warm amusement and teasing smile.

Vaan just chuckled and nodded to her, trying to belay any further lecture in the works. There wasn't any use denying his behavior. No small wonder that Penelo was starting to get tired of him being so maniacally possessive of his ship. He just couldn't seem to stop.

Maybe it _was_ because of Ashe's hold over him. Or maybe it was because he'd liberated the ship as a derelict, in not too un-similar a way as Balthier had the _Strahl_. Whatever the reason, he needed to get over himself. Balthier would have laughed at him and insisted that anyone who feared losing something, never really had it to begin with.

_Balthier..._

It had been nearly two years since the defeat of Vayne--and a full year more since the infamous pirating duo had reclaimed their Strahl. They'd snuck into the hanger, took back the ship, and left behind the Queen's ransomed wedding band along with an enormous skystone. And of course, they'd left the very smallest clue as to where the two of them were off to next.

That's perhaps what had started it all. The clue.

Vaan had been alternately elated and lost. It was like winning the war all over again to know his friends were alive, against all hope. Or rather, all hope but his. He hadn't ever really given up on them. But when the joy of knowing they'd survived the Bahamut settled, Vaan's heart still ached. The message left behind with the skystone had been like an invitation to play. _Get a ship and use the stone. Come join us..._ But that was long ago and over time Vaan had begun to feel a strange sort of hole nagging him from within.

That, more than anything, drove Vaan these days. More than the teasing clue, more than the need to know they were truly alright, more than the deep, deep desire to lay eyes (and maybe hands) on Balthier again--he was obsessed with filling that nameless ache inside that was swallowing his life. Maybe he _did_ need to actually see Balthier and Fran in the flesh to really accept that they'd survived. But then Vaan wondered why the greatest heartache was that they'd taken the Strahl without at least seeing him and Penelo. Why had they run out on him? A dark, ungenerous place within Vaan reasoned that almost everyone he'd ever cared about left him at some point, in some way. Maybe they were just fated to leave him too.

Some days Vaan had to grab onto to Penelo to prove to himself that _she_ was still there with him.

Even so, Vaan _was_ trying to find them. He'd _acquired_ the Galbana, installed the amazingly powerful, Jagd resistant skystone they'd been left(and wouldn't he love the tale of that) and gone after his friends.

Miles charted on the Galbana's flight recorder were all Vaan had to show for it. He'd been from one end of each of the known continents to the other and news of the Strahl and her crew was like water in a desert--closely held and guarded by the privileged. To Vaan's great annoyance, his and Penelo's friendships with Royalty had done surprisingly little to open the avenue of underground intelligence. Larsa, Ashe, the Marquis and even Al Cid had all regretfully informed them that any rumors of the Strahl abroad were impossible to verify. There apparently were some doors that even helping save the world didn't grease.

So Vaan had taken commissions from the Queen, reluctantly and robbed a few mid dynasty burials for the treasure. He'd transported cargo for different, questionable clients (just enough to develop and maintain his reputation as a sky pirate), and gone on a few of the more notable hunts. And all the while he begged and bribed for every half spun hint of where their friends might have gone.

Every flight out was an opportunity to search. But they weren't gaining any ground. It was worse than chasing ghosts. Vaan had done that before, and at least he'd walked away with something tangible to show for it. Hunting for the Strahl was less like searching for the 'missing' and becoming more and more like searching for the 'never was'.

Vaan hadn't realized he was crushing the folded maps in his fists until Penelo laid a hand over his, squeezing gently. Surprised, he looked up and caught her eyes, full of sisterly warmth and sympathetic understanding. He averted his gaze quickly, and after a moment she sighed and pulled away. It'd always been confusing to him that Penelo seemed set on seeing right through him. Worse yet was how annoyingly good she was at it. But Vaan _wasn't_ one to be pitied. His young man's pride was tetchy at the best of times. So he shrugged off Penelo's concern, literally, and adopted a cocky grin, tossing the crumpled maps to her as he jumped off the dock crates with what he deemed was properly piratical enthusiasm--confident swagger included.

"C'mon Penelo," he waved to her as he headed for the Galbana. "The Moogles are done fueling her up and we've got a date with an informant in Balfonheim."

Penelo looked from Vaan to the crate, and then back at Vaan's retreating backside. "So much for chivalry! This crate is heavy!" She huffed her blond bangs out of her face and shook her head in mock disgust. But she couldn't resist smiling at her partner's antics--even knowing it for the deflective performance it was.

Sliding the crumpled maps into her belt, Penelo reached for the crate of fresh maruba fruit knowing they'd make Vaan squeal like a child when it was time to stop for their next meal.

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Penelo wasn't superstitious. But she _was_ a woman--and as such she was sure she listened to her instincts more than the average man. So it bothered her that said instincts were nearly screaming at her. Something was really _off_ with their so called informant lurking before them. Tamaraide by name, if that could be believed. The _creature--_she didn't know what else to classify it--was enormous and stooped, cloaked in layer upon layer of worn fabrics until its shape was only hinted at. Even up close Penelo was beyond guessing what race it was, and that was saying something.

This was trouble, she could smell it. Or maybe that was just the odor rolling off the creature. It was like the stench off a charnel house under a hot sun. It was like Nabudis. The reek of corrupted flesh.

It spoke again and Penelo cringed, contemplating that maybe her misgivings stemmed from the creature's voice. It rasped out in razor thin noises, like a hissing tea kettle full of broken glass. And just like a hundred other informants had in the past, it went on and on about important news of Balthier and Fran--or as the creature put it, 'The errant Archadian pirate and his Viera witch'. Unfortunately, Penelo knew from experience there wasn't any better lure to make Vaan ignore what _little_ common sense he possessed.

The exchange was, barring the extreme oddness of the creature, just what she'd come to expect. The sibilant voice leaking out from under the ragged hood still hadn't given them any concrete news yet. That wouldn't come until it got around to asking more for the information than they were willing to pay. Tamaraide swore again that not only did it know right where the Strahl was currently docked, but also what business had been keeping Balthier and Fran secreted away so long. She wished it would just demand it's price and be done with it.

Penelo wanted to give voice to the creeping dread in her gut. She was nearly aching to. This thing was unnatural--it had to be. But the almost manic light in Vaan's eyes as he listened convinced her it wouldn't matter if she did protest at this point. Minutes passed and Penelo had long given up all pretense and was covering her nose with a kerchief, just so her eyes didn't water. Vaan was either a lot stronger of constitution, or he was too set on their negotiations to care about the reek. And then Tamaraide put the cards on the table. The creature insisted they go on a retrieval job as _pre_-payment for the information.

Vaan at least offered other things first. Penelo knew they had plenty of coin for their simple tastes, a fair amount of treasure too, even a couple of arcane rarities gathered from the last tomb raid. But the creature didn't want any of it. Whatever was being retrieved was worth more than all of it. A sobering thought.

Even so, Penelo knew Vaan wouldn't say no. She wanted to shake him and yell at him until he agreed with her that this was the worst idea ever, in all the history of bad ideas. But Vaan had proven before he would go to _any_ length to get a piece of news.

Unfortunately, he didn't disappoint.

He haggled for a bare moment more before accepting the terms--nothing but a show of pretense. And just as they were to shake on the deal, something that frankly made Penelo want to gag, the creature instead slapped an old map and a strange device it called 'the key' roughly into Vaan's hands.

Vaan had barely started to ask what the 'key' was actually for when the creature was already walking away with a rapid, boneless grace that denied its bulk. Watching their would-be informant veritably melt into the colorful crowd of the port city--Penelo fervently hoped they didn't live to regret taking this misadventure on.

Then a chill of apprehension crawled up her spine and Penelo immediately changed her mind. She desperately, _desperately_ hoped they lived, even if they_ did_ regret going forward with this.

Vaan threw an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in tight. "Thank you for not stopping me," he whispered earnestly. There was something odd and grave in his voice that scared her even more than Tamaraide had.

Penelo couldn't summon a smile for him, it all just felt too wrong. Instead she elbowed her way out of his grasp. "You own me lunch before we head out. That is, if I can stomach food after the way that _thing_ smelled."

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Don't worry! Our leading man shows up in the next chapter! Can't have Vaan pining indefinitely. Though he really doesn't realize he's pining, as yet.


	2. Chapter 1

**Ark of the Nethirym**

Chapter I

The giant metal doors shut with a boom. Vaan helped Penelo find a ledge against the ornate back wall of the chamber--to lean against and catch her breath. "Heal yourself, Pen. And wait here." He patted her gently, noticing with a twinge of guilt just how exhausted she looked. He stowed it away for later though--when they were safe away from this place.

He _would_ get them out of there safe, no mistake.

"Vaan…Please wait. I just need a minute." Penelo gripped his arm as he was about to turn away, leaving a bloody smudge on his bicep. "Don't… don't go any further without me." She was suddenly, irrationally afraid. It wasn't like they hadn't been in tighter spots before. But it had been _so_ hard to get to this point, beyond the sentinel monsters and the insane traps. And that last door had just been...unlocked. No puzzle, no trap, no Gigas needed.... It made no sense. And now there they were, in some cavernous chamber that looked suspiciously like so many others had in the past--right before something large and terrible came at them.

And it was just the two of them this time.

Vaan grinned lopsidedly and tweaked Penelo's nose with filthy fingers, dispensing the last of his cure magic as he did so. The telling blue shimmer surrounded her for an instant before going to work. Before she could protest, Vaan pushed forward. "Pen, I can see it from here. There's a dais and I bet that's where this 'key' thing must go. Stay here, rest--we'll be out before lunch. I promise." He cocked a pale brow at her, smiling. "My treat again."

Penelo wanted to argue--but Vaan was more spry than he had any right to be after the morning they'd had--and before she blinked he was halfway across the room, leaving a wake of kicked up dust that hung in the air like a stale fog. The floor beneath the ages old layer of dirt was ornately tiled in a vaguely circular pattern and Penelo hoped the floor wasn't trapped too. Damned near everything else had been.

"Vaan!" she called out. "We still don't know what it is we're supposed to retrieve. So be careful, you bonehead!"

He answered her without looking back. "Once I use the key, I'll know what we came for. Heck I knew less about what I was doing the night I broke into the Palace at Rabanastre."

She snorted, amused in spite of herself. "Yeah, and that went soooo well!"

"Don't worry so much. We're pros now, Penelo. Just wait there, you'll see."

Penelo watched through the settling dust as Vaan cautiously approached the dais, upon which a dimly illuminated console covered in runic carvings was mounted.

Vaan stood there in the oddly focused light for a moment, thinking. He pulled out the ornately scrolled, three dimensional '_key_' from where it hung on a chain around his neck--not surprised that the device and the recess upon the console seemed to match exactly. He fitted it carefully into place and eased it in a few inches and waited for something to happen.

They both held their breath. But the stillness of the room remained unbroken.

A few more moments found Vaan jutting his jaw in consternation, chewing his bottom lip. He drug grimy fingers through equally dirty hair, huffing in frustration. "I must have to do something else," he called back to Penelo.

"I'm on my way over," she replied, her voice echoing through the chamber. "We can try pushing it in, or turning it or something. But wait 'till I get over there."

Vaan did what he normally did in these moments, he patently ignored her. "Here I go." He grinned at the curses he heard bounce across the walls from behind him and pressed the key deeper into the recess. Immediately Vaan heard a click and whir underneath his feet. He pulled the key out, waiting guardedly. And for a moment, again nothing happened. Then came the sound of ancient gears grinding deep below, and the dais began to split in two, moving outward in an arc away from the console. The console itself developed a seam and then opened and collapsed to each side and sunk into the floor. Vaan nearly lost his balance before hopping off the moving sections, stepping back just in time to warily watch as a pedestal rose up from where the console had once been, surrounded in an eerie blue nimbus.

"Vaan!" Penelo called, her voice tight with fear, the sound of her quickening steps lost in the rumble of hidden mechanisms working beneath the floor.

"Don't worry Pen. I'm fine!" Vaan called back over his shoulder. "And I think I know what we came after." He studied the pedestal and the palm sized crystal shard that was cinched in the top. "Old Stinky must want this shard. It looks like a skystone of some kind. But I can't tell. It's kind of irregular to fit a Glossair engine. And tiny."

"Don't touch it yet, Vaan!" She was nearly there. _If he'd just wait, damn him!_

The grinding gears stilled and Vaan could hear Penelo's stomping approach. He didn't wait though. Dagger in hand, he was already braced against the pedestal, prying at the crystal in its setting.

The knife suddenly slipped, slashing Vaan's palm. Cursing, he dropped the blade and clamped his hand over the long slice, liberally trailing drops of crimson over the pedestal and stone. It was a deep cut and he was out of cure magic.

"What did you do?" Penelo demanded, seeing the blood trail out from underneath clamped fingers as he held the injured hand to his chest.

Vaan was about to answer with several more choice curses when the blue glow around the dais intensified and the whole room shuddered and heaved. "Penelo, stay back! Something's happening again!"

"We need to get out of here!" Penelo yelled above the noise. "I don't care what your _informant_ knows…this is too dangerous!" She reached for Vaan but before her fingers could wrap around any part of him, her head was filled with a deep thrumming noise coming from all around them. It was so penetrating it was painful and Penelo couldn't hold in the wail escaping her lips. She doubled over, covering her ears, absolutely sure they must be bleeding. Underneath the pain she was stricken by how strange the noise actually seemed--somehow like a voice, but not. And it sounded almost...contemptuous. She'd never heard anything like it before and prayed she never would again.

Then a wild wind tore through the chamber, nearly knocking her over. The entire room began to quake even more and Penelo was sure if it got any worse, the room would come down on top of them.

Vaan was frozen, enrapt by the stone and immune to the chaos all around him. His unblinking gaze was locked on it as though the chamber held nothing else. The stone winked and throbbed in a pattern of cerulean lights until, without warning, the ornate claws gripping it sprang open. Vaan could _feel_ crystal then, like a living thing broken free from a cage--ecstatic. Even more peculiar still, he could tell that it _wanted_ him to take it. He couldn't imagine how a stone could _want_ something. A remote part of him cut through the trance, screaming a warning in his mind. _Run_, a deep, instinctual part of him called out. _Run!_

Vaan fought against the odd draw of the glowing crystal, dragging himself out of the hypnotic fugue and was nearly overcome with shock at the wind and the deafening noise pounding through the room. How had he _not_ heard that? How had he not fallen over from the tremors convulsing the floor? Penelo screamed his name, the wind nearly tearing the sound away before it reached him and Vaan wondered if she'd been calling him all along. Things were going sour fast. He didn't have time to suss out the deeper mysteries of the stone. They needed to get out of there, now.

But if he left without his prize, he'd loose the chance to find out what news Tamaraide had. So Vaan reached out and grabbed for the crystal shard.

The last thing he heard as his fingers closed around it was Penelo screaming for him to stop.

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Vaan felt nothing, heard nothing, saw only black. Not the howling wind, or the chamber. Not even Penelo. There was just...nothing. Nothing he could sense but the dense emptiness all around him.

And then a Voice, he felt rather than heard, seemed to smile in the dark. "Greetings lovely vessel," called to him in coldly amused tone. "Long has our way been barred. And we are hungry for that which was denied us. History shall repeat itself. And through you, we shall rebuild the world in _our_ image."

Vaan tried to scream but there was nothing to his voice. There was just...nothing.

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Making it back into continental air space, Penelo had finally been able to get a communication link through to Larsa. For the millionth time she was glad of his friendship and patronage. Though she never failed to be surprised when the past they'd traveled together continued to foster a bond of friendship between them. Former traveling companions or no, she and Vaan were still commoners, and pirates no less. It was by far much harder to get ahold of Ashe, and they were _her_ subjects.

"It was a trap, Larsa!" Penelo tried to keep the tears out of her voice, but fear was winning. "And now I don't know what to do. He's…He's _not_ right!"

"Calm down, Penelo. And tell me what's happened." Larsa's smooth, youthful voice sounded across of the long-range receiver like a balm on her frayed nerves. Penelo had always thought Larsa had a captivating way about him and as he'd grown, it had only grown with him. She centered herself on his calm tones and took a deep breath.

"We met an informant in Balfonheim. Vaan was buying more information about the Strahl's whereabouts."

"Penelo, I've told Vaan he shouldn't..."

"I know! I know..." Penelo sagged in the cockpit seat, wiping her eyes. "But you don't tell us anything either," she quietly accused. "And we_ know_ you know something about them. What else was he supposed to do?"

She heard Larsa's sigh come over the intercom and decided this wasn't the time to rehash that particular old fight. Larsa apparently agreed with her as he cleared his throat and spoke with an apologetic tone. "Penelo. The time will come--probably sooner than later and I will..."

A muffed voice spoke in the background, out of range of the communicator and though Penelo couldn't make out what was said, something about the tone was vaguely familiar. Still, she couldn't quite place it. A moment later, the crackling static of a hand clamping over the communicator on Larsa's side of the transmission indicated she wasn't meant to either.

She was about to end the call when Larsa's voice returned, as strong and sure as ever. Though Penelo couldn't help but mistrust it now. "Penelo, tell me about the informant. This is important, don't leave anything out."

"Okay. Like I said, we met..._it_ in Balfonheim. This time, the informant was really strange. I...I couldn't tell if the thing was a deformed Bangaa or what. It was just so _creepy._ It smelled like death!" She tried hard to remember every detail of the interaction. It hadn't taken but a few minutes...no time at all to end up on the path to trouble. They should have known this was too much to handle. Penelo felt like the worst kind of fool. "It wanted us to complete a task, before it would divulge the information. That _thing_, swore it knew where the Strahl was. And Vaan--well--you know how driven he's been. He would do _anything_ to find them, Larsa. And this time...This time we went too far." Penelo took in a shaky breath.

She heard that telltale whisper in the background again and this time Larsa answered, just out of her hearing. By now, Penelo doubted it was Basch. "Larsa, who's..."

"Can you tell me, where exactly did your _informant_ send you and Vaan to?" Larsa's voice held a small thread of what could have been worry, maybe impatience. It was hard to tell. Penelo was beginning to think she'd made a mistake in calling on him. He _was_ an Emperor, even if he was her friend. She must have interrupted something important.

"Larsa, I'm sorry. Did I reach you at a bad time? I…"

"No Penelo, it's fine."

Penelo could hear the unmistakable thread of anxiety in Larsa's tone, clear as day now. "I could call you back later..."

"Don't!" he called, suddenly loud. But then he marshaled himself, clearing his voice. "Don't go just yet, please. It's fine, Penelo."

She swallowed thickly and wondered what in Ivalice was going on over there. "If you're sure..."

"Yes, please continue. It's very important I know everything you can tell me. So I can help you and Vaan."

Penelo was positive something fishy was up. Larsa was afraid, and trying to cover it. And she'd never known Larsa be afraid of anything. It was probably why she'd called him, of all people. Problem was, she had no way of figuring out what was going on. Maybe if she kept him on the line, it would become clear. Of course, maybe the other voice _was_ Bashe, after all. Maybe after the morning she'd had she was just too damn jumpy. "We...we followed a map the informant gave us. It led us to an island far east of the Port--beyond the international waters of Archadia. The map was really old,"

"Could you read it? Did you know where you were going?" Larsa's calm sounded forced to her ears now. There was a tight tone to his inquiry that made Penelo's skin crawl.

"No," she offered hesitantly. "Whatever language it was written in wasn't something we could read. But the continental shoreline matched up to our other maps nearly perfect. The main difference was that none of our other maps had the island on them. It wasn't that hard to figure out where we were headed. It was a Jagd region too. Without the stone Balthier left us, we'd have never made it there."

There was a moment of silence on the line and then Penelo heard it again--a hint of a voice in the background, but more distinct this time. It _wasn't_ Basch's. No, definitely not. It was clearer--A painfully familiar voice, long missed. It _couldn't_ be who it sounded like! "Wait, Larsa. _Who_ is with you?"

"Penelo," Larsa started to say, but he was hushed by the voice. Penelo's heart pounded in her her chest. She could only imagine one person who would dare hush an Emperor. After a pause, an arch voice--much more mature than Larsa's--cleared itself. "Hello Penelo," came cultured tones she had almost given up hope of ever hearing again.

"B…Balthier? Is that you?" Penelo had to remember to breath. After all this time...

His small chuckle reverberated through the cabin, warming her for an instant. "In the flesh, as it were, my dear girl. Now I hear you have a…"

Suddenly, Penelo was furious. "You! Do you KNOW what we've been through, looking for you! What _he's_ been through! How could you…"

"Not now, Penelo," Balthier snapped crisply from the speakers, the amusement in his voice evaporating instantly. "There are far more important things afoot. There will be time for that later."

That didn't slow her a bit. "Not now?" she spat, her tone rising. "Not _now_! Balthier...I... Where have you been!" She took a deep breath, trying to control the flood of warring emotions inside her.

"Ah, therein lies a grand story, my dear. Which you will get the whole of in due time, if you'll be only a bit more patient."

Penelo almost started into a rant again. He wanted her to be patient? With everything going to hell around her! "Patient! Balthier..."

"The short version is that it seems Vaan has, _de rigueur_, stumbled onto something much larger than himself. _And_ beat me to the prize, yet again."

"What prize?" she asked. Her voice dwindled away, as all the anger drained suddenly out of her, leaving Penelo cold with worry. She was exhausted and lost and Balthier wanted to play word games--same as ever. "We didn't beat you to _anything_. All we got was beaten to bits. And Vaan... He's_... _I'm not sure what's wrong. But he's_ not_ himself anymore."

"You said that, my dear. But what does it mean?" Balthier's voice was rich with his trademark aristocratic self-assurance, but there was a clear underpinning of worry knit into it. Just like Larsa's had held.

Penelo would have been _almost_ gratified to hear the vein of concern, if the implications weren't so terrible. It wasn't a tenth of the worry they had experienced on his behalf over the last two years. But what was going on that would shake Balthier, even a fraction? "The stone… Vaan… He took it."

"So you _do_ have the stone then?" Balthier sounded suddenly eager to Penelo, and that didn't sit well with her at all.

"Y…yes. We do. Or rather, Vaan does--I think. I couldn't find it earlier when I cleaned him up."

"You couldn't find it?"

"Balthier," she called firmly. "Tell me that's not all you care about here. Tell me this isn't just about that stone." She knew the words were unworthy, the moment she spoke them. But at the moment she felt a childish need to wound him, if only on Vaan's behalf.

"Penelo, _please_ believe me--we don't have time for this. You must listen carefully. You need to find out what Vaan did with the stone. You and he should still be safe, even if transporting the stone has Vaan acting...a bit odd. Bear in mind, that crystal you retrieved is _very_ dangerous. But touching the stone shouldn't be too problematic. The entity won't awake without a blood sacrifice."

"Entity? Blood," she gasped, feeling suddenly ill. "Balthier, he…he cut himself while trying to get it. His blood, it was all over the place. All over the stone." She winced at the sound of muffled cursing coming across. "Balthier?"

"Penelo. Please tell me Vaan isn't still…well…" Balthier cleared his voice again, his discomfort almost palpable via the transmission.

Penelo heard a faint, lilted voice in the background informing Balthier that delicacy was for people with time to waste. It could only be Fran and Penelo was momentarily elated to hear the Viera's voice. But she was also confused. "Vaan isn't still _what_, Balthier?" Penelo asked.

A loud sigh sounded over the intercom. "Penelo, is Vaan still...pure?"

She paused for a moment, trying to decide if Balthier was actually asking what she thought he was. "What, you mean... You mean, virginal?" she asked. At any other time, Penelo would have been giggling like a schoolgirl. She couldn't seem to find any humor in this, though. "As…uhm…as far as I know, yes. I mean, not with…well…**_we_** haven't, at any rate." She could feel her face go hot and was thankful no one could see her. "I take it you and he never..."

Penelo heard more cursing and a muffled grumble that sounded suspiciously like _'I knew I should have done it before now'_.

"You're going to come straight here to Archades," Balthier insisted. "Do you understand, Penelo? No stops for fuel or food."

Balthier's tone was too serious, too hard. It was fear, Penelo knew. But Balthier had asserted many times before_, leading men_ were never afraid. "Balthier, we don't have enough fuel to get to the capital without stopping. We were due to port back in Balfonheim to refuel after meeting the informant." She was starting to panic. Something terrible was happening and she wasn't getting straight answers. "Why won't you tell me what's going on? I want to talk to Larsa. Larsa! Tell me what this is all about!" Penelo's eyes were stinging and her breath coming in rapid, ragged gasps. This was too far beyond her, too large. The bridge was suddenly small and smothering and she felt crushed under the weight of the unknown.

Balthier's voice sounded over the intercom in a sharp, sure tone. "Penelo, you _must _keep it together. I _know_ you can." He paused a moment, his voice softening. "Vaan needs you to be strong, my dear."

"I...I'm alright, Balthier. What do I do?" She wiped her eyes and took deep, slow breaths, grasping for composure.

"That's a girl. Just listen carefully. The Strahl will meet you halfway there. Come this side of the Cerobi Steppe and hover. You have enough fuel for that?"

"Uhm...yes. Well, we might." She looked at the Galbana's instruments to make sure they _did_ indeed have enough fuel. "Just barely."

"Excellent! Now, don't land there until I tell you. Do you understand? I _will _find you." Balthier spoke firmly, with the surety that he'd always seemed to exude no matter how tenuous things got. He was giving her what she needed to pull herself together. "Penelo, do you understand?"

"Y...Yes, Balthier. I understand. But…" she pleaded softly. "What's happening? What's happening to Vaan?"

"I'll explain when I get there, my dear. I promise I'll tell you what I can, then," he assured her gently. "Be careful. And be fast with that ship of his."

"Hurry Balthier." And then Larsa was back on the line with her, keeping her mind busy, talking to her of trivial details.

He never did tell her what Balthier had meant by 'entity'.


	3. Chapter 2

**Ark of the Nethirym**

Chapter II

Waking up was less than pleasant, as Penelo was driving Vaan mad. Well, alright, if he had to admit it, she was just adding to the problem. He had what could only be considered an _epic_ headache. In fact, headache was too mild a word. There had to be another term for the mind numbing, nauseating, _disturbing_ level of agony in his skull. And Penelo's pacing wasn't helping. He could hear every footfall like she was stomping on a kettle drum. Vaan summoned up his reserves and tried to tell her to stop, but all that came out was a clumsy moan.

It had the desired effect, though. She stopped moving.

He cracked a gray eye open, cautiously, and was met with bright lights searing into his head and the sight of a very frazzled Penelo staring at him like he'd just oozed up out of a drain pipe in Garamsythe. He wondered if that meant he looked as bad as he felt, or even half as bad as _she_ looked. And maybe he did. Aside from his head aching terribly--much of him, in fact, hurt. He couldn't remember much that felt like recent memory. But he certainly _didn't_ recall going 10 rounds with a Wild Saurian, without benefit of a weapon on hand.

Still, memories or not, he felt like he'd been eaten, chewed vigorously and then shat out after a good, long digestion. All that was left was to figure out why.

"Pen," he croaked, his throat surprisingly dry. "Wh…why are you staring at me like that?" He realized almost immediately it wasn't the question he'd intended to ask, but it was a start.

Penelo, for her part, gamely overcame her shock at seeing Vaan acting like, well...himself, and retrieved a cup of water. She lifted his shoulders as best she could, watching his face closely as he seemed to vacillate between confusion and discomfort. Only the effort _wasn't_ going smoothly. "Vaan, you need to help me here. You're too damn heavy."

Vaan's customary 'Oh' expression would have been funny, even reassuring, were things not gone so _very_ wrong. But at last he finally started working in a coordinated effort with her to get somewhat upright.

Vaan took the offered cup and drank deeply, ignoring the shaking in his hands. When he looked up, Penelo was _still_ starring at him like he'd sprouted an extra head. This was getting old. "Penelo, if I've been horribly disfigured by whatever caused this headache..."

She snorted. "You aren't disfigured, bonehead." A moment later she blushed and looked away. "What do you remember?" she asked quietly.

Vaan had no idea what it was that she _didn't_ want to tell him. Whatever it was, it must have been a doozy. He rubbed his temples trying to give Penelo some kind of answer. "I…uh…I guess I remember finding the island. And I know we found a big chamber. I think I healed you up a bit right after that." Vaan searched, but couldn't seem to find anything else solid to fill the spaces. "Everything else after that is…" He paused, frowning. "It's not there." This was very _not_ good. All Vaan could piece together were scattered sensations of darkness...fear. And his head still felt like it was splitting in two--not a confidence builder. There could only be one explanation. "I hit my head, didn't I?"

Penelo coughed out a laugh that almost immediately turned into a choked sob.

Shocked as he was by her unusual outburst, Vaan figured it was fortunate he wasn't prone to thinking of Penelo as an actual, regular _girl_. Elsewise he wouldn't have known _what_ in Ivalice to do in the face of her tears. But since she was just Penelo, he knew exactly what to do. "Hey, c'mere..." Vaan tossed the empty cup onto the bed and opened his arms. She hesitated a moment and then plopped on the bed beside him, laying her head on his shoulder. He did his best to wrap her in a comforting embrace, stiff and sore as he was. "Penelo, whatever's wrong, you can tell me. In fact, I wish you would. I'm a little lost here." He may have felt like the ass-end of a bad fight, but whatever else was going on, he was alive. Everything else was up from there. "Something definitely chewed me up and spit me out. But I'm still here, Pen. It's all okay now."

That only seemed to make things worse and Penelo started to cry in earnest then. At which point Vaan decided he was better off shutting up, since either something _truly_ terrible had happened or he'd forgotten to check the calender and poor Penelo was back around to _that time_ of the lunar cycle again. Whatever the cause, the tears didn't last. A few more moments of indistinct, muffled words were sobbed into Vaan's shoulder and then Penelo righted herself, wiping off her cheeks with the heel of her hand. "Sorry, I've had a bad day." She sniffled, trying to smile encouragingly.

Vaan thought her smile was laughably unconvincing. And as swollen and blotchy red as she was, just a little grisly. "You gonna tell me what's up?" he asked softly, holding back a wince as she shifted in his arms.

Penelo took a deep breath, 'It sounds so unlikely. And yet all the trouble we've seen. It's also kind of... so very... uhm... You?" She snorted a halfhearted laugh and buried her face in his shoulder again.

Vaan held Penelo as firmly as he could, ignoring the growing fatigue weighting him down. Whatever happened _must_ have included getting his skull bashed in. The room started dimming around the edges, leaving him feeling at once panicked and annoyed. He didn't _want_ to pass out, but Vaan had every idea it was coming anyway.

Penelo wiped her face again, searching for the words to explain as best she could, but a peripheral glance at Vaan made her pause. All the color was draining from his face. He definitely looked unwell. "Vaan, what's wrong?" He'd started to sway, sitting there. So Penelo slid out of his loosening grasp and guided him to lay back down. "Vaan, can you hear me?" She tapped his cheek softly.

The room was suddenly cold to Vaan--very, very cold. Not only that, an odd weight started building at the back of his skull. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the deepening sensation, but that only set the room to spinning worse. An instant later the headache he'd awoken with crescendoed to a bright, hot spike through his entire skull and Vaan curled into himself trying to escape it, biting down on a scream so hard his teeth ground and his jaw spasmed.

"Vaan!" Penelo called him again.

He could hear the panic in her voice and wanted to say something, _anything_, so that she didn't cry again. He hated it when Penelo cried. But words were suddenly outside of his reach. Everything was becoming distant, detached through a haze of shadow and pain. He barely felt her hands on his shoulders anymore, barely felt the bed beneath him.

"Vaan, please! What's happening?"

He tried hard to focus on her plea, beyond the spreading fire in his skull. But a hungry darkness was overtaking his awareness, clouding over everything. It was a black ledge into nothingness, and Vaan was slid over it and falling before he ever knew how to stop himself.

It was then that he remembered... He wasn't alone in the dark.

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It took Penelo several minutes to realize she was no longer holding onto Vaan, but rather something else_ entirely_. His fingers had stopped gripping and clawing at his skull, falling lax. The terrible shaking had subsided. Though oddly, Vaan felt somehow _hotter_ in her hands. He laid there, terribly still, his breath the only movement he made. She'd slid her lap under his head, stroking his brow, assuming he was unconscious--at first.

Then suddenly his eyes popped open and locked onto her. Only, they weren't Vaan's eyes. Not the soft gray she was used to--these eyes were a cold, bright blue. And Glowing...

Penelo let go like she'd been burnt and jumped up off the bed, backing away until she came up against the wall. The unnatural eyes tracked her every movement, languidly predatory. The expression spoke volumes of the change--Vaan had never looked so eerily shrewd.

But then, this wasn't Vaan. This was doubtless Balthier's _entity_.

Minutes passed with her feeling pinned like cornered prey, though _it_ hadn't yet offered to move off the bed. Slowly, confusion took over Vaan's features from the awful look of patient hunger. Gradually his hands slid up to clamp around his head--just as before--and he twisted and struggled on the bed.

"Get out of here Penelo!" he screeched hoarsely. "Run! Now!"

She was out the door like a shot, code locking it behind her, desperately hoping that whatever had hold of Vaan couldn't get at his memories of the ship. Else wise she was sunk.

Penelo flinched at the wail of agony seeping through the door and ran all the way to the bridge, locking herself in there as well.

She was well cried-out by the time Balthier and Fran found them.

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"Penelo! Are you there? Can you hear me?" Balthier _almost_ kicked the cockpit control console_. Almost_ slammed the com-link with his fist, _almost_ yanked the hand unit from its base and threw it across the deck of his bridge. _Almost_. Only, Leading men never lost their tempers, especially not in fits of apprehension. "Will that girl never answer?" He slumped back in his captain's chair, raking his hands through his hair.

Fran didn't get nearly as riled as her hume partner--despite Balthier's frequently nonchalant facade. It simply wasn't in her nature. So she strummed her claws over the Strahl's controls, pretending not to sense Balthier's anxiety. Sometimes it was just better to let children work things out as they saw fit. "She will answer us soon. Be patient."

"Patience is a luxury we can ill afford at the moment, Fran. If things have fallen apart as I fear, then neither Vaan nor Penelo have time on their side." Balthier launched himself out of his chair and paced around the small cockpit a few times. Eventually he settled for standing, looking out over the vast expanse of land and sky before them. He didn't bother stifling the sigh building within him.

Much as he hated to admit it, he felt guilty over this whole thing, on numerous levels. Which in itself was unacceptable. Guilt was for ground bound humes with their pedestrian morals and mores--not for sky pirates. But it was an undeniable fact, leaving the boy behind and disappearing without a trace had led the desert chit into more trouble than Balthier ever could have expected. But then, that wasn't true either. He _should have_ expected it. Truth was, Balthier _knew _the boy's penchant for misadventure from long ago. Worse yet, he knew how ferociously Vaan would hold onto what few ties he had. He should have anticipated that Vaan wouldn't give up easily.

Balthier had been sure that at the time, it was the best course for them both. Crash landing the Bahamut had seemed like the perfect invitation for a clean break. Save the city and take what fate was offering, the ideal get away. Balthier had fondly watched the fair-haired desert youth grow from vagrant thief, to intrepid adventurer to confident hero. What Vaan had needed next--in Balthier's esteemed opinion--was his own ship to command, his own destiny to follow. What Balthier had needed for himself was a clean severing of what was becoming an emotional tangle. Leading men didn't get 'tangled'. They saved the princess and then flew off into the sunset.

Leading men _didn't_ take on attractive, scurrilous young apprentices with a mind to making permanent romantic attachments with them.

And Balthier could admit that much at least, that it _was_ an emerging romantic interest he felt for the boy. Certainly though, nothing worth putting either his freedom or Vaan's at risk. It wasn't the first time Balthier had found himself forming an unwanted attachment. It was the risk of owning a hume heart, as Fran was so fond of pointing out to him. It wasn't even the first time he'd left behind someone he cared about in order to protect his own interests. As with others in his past, Balthier followed the urge to find an expedient, surgical way of ending things before they got messy.

In this case, distance.

Problem was, this time it hadn't worked. Apparently the rotten little thief had nipped him but good, stealing some small but vital piece of Balthier for himself. Nearly two years had gone by and Balthier's thoughts _still_ strayed to Vaan, nearly daily. He still dreamed of sun kissed skin and warm gray eyes. His fingers still itched for the feel of soft, unruly, platinum hair. He still worried enough to have been keeping tabs on the youth, long before Larsa had hired him to. He still missed the boy enough to ache at every bittersweet memory.

Damn the comely desert rat…

Now Vaan was arse over elbows into trouble…again. This time something so terrible and so difficult, and oh so avoidable. Had the youth just given up looking for Balthier, if he'd just let things lie, he'd be safe roaming the skies. None the wiser. If Balthier had just once reached out to assure the boy. A small interaction to buy them time. One right word might have averted this.

Of course, if Balthier had just bedded the boy during their original adventures--as he'd _desired_--they wouldn't be in this fix either. Without his virginity intact, Vaan wouldn't have made a proper receptacle for the darkness locked away inside of him now. The irony of the circumstance was staggering. Never before had depriving himself ever caused such trouble. Lesson to the wise, next time Balthier wanted something, it was just better for everyone if he took it.

So much for that perfect getaway.

Several minutes passed in uncomfortable silence, a holding pattern of waiting. The afternoon sun shone over the Cerobi Steppe, sprawled out below them. Balthier was reminded that he'd always thought that from above, the terrain looked like the form of a mangled woman. That earned yet another moody sigh from him.

Fran's ears twitched and she glanced up at Balthier. "This isn't your fault," she offered. "Ever the desert child has chosen for himself. And there are others at work in this."

Balthier didn't waste time being annoyed at her insights anymore. He'd never admit it, but if not for his Viera partner, he might not see himself nearly so clear. One of her best assets was being the lens through which he viewed his weaknesses. "Stop reading my mind, Fran. It's dreadfully rude," he drawled.

Then he tensed as he spotted something in the distant sky. "Besides, there's the Galbana, and only _just_ fashionably late at that." He pursed his lips in a smug smirk. "Didn't I say this would all work out in the end? All we had to do was be patient."

Fran let loose a long-suffering hiss of air, rolling her eyes. "We shall go meet them?" she asked, allowing the barest hint of annoyance into her tone.

"I think we'd best." Then the facade fell for a moment and Balthier swung the Arcturus onto his shoulder. He pinned his partner with a serious look. "Fran, be ready for anything."

"The boy is strong." Fran peered at Balthier thoughtfully. "But indeed, preparation is wise."

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*Next chapter, Balthier meets Vaan's houseguest.


	4. Chapter 3

_Okay, I'm 4 chapters in and I'm finally getting around to an author's note. And all I have to say is I'm surprised how well Balthier and Penelo talk to me, and utterly disappointed at how hard it's been to get Vaan, in his currently possessed state, to talk to me even a little. So piss on him, I'll let the monster talk for a bit. ;P Maybe Balthier can coax him out to play…_

_Disclaimer: They aren't mine, primarily because the universe is an unjust place. Nuff said. _

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**Ark of the Nethirym**

Chapter III

The door, so to speak, was open when Balthier and Fran made it across the brief expanse of grassland between the two landed ships. They walked quickly up the gang-ramp and into the belly of the Galbana, calling for its inhabitants along the way.

They heard Penelo's footsteps ringing through the corridor before they saw her. A moment later, she rounded a corner out of breath, looking exhausted and desperately glad to see them. "Thank Raithwall you're both here!"

Then Penelo brought herself up short, composing herself as best she could--still catching her breath. Suddenly the two years seemed like a decade of distance and she felt every day of it in the awkward air. Time had brought so much change to her and Vaan, what had it brought to the people standing before her? Fran and Balthier stood there looking nearly just like they had the last time she'd seen them. But Penelo wasn't sure she and Vaan could even call them friends anymore.

Even so, she _was_ glad they were there. Being alone with Vaan in his current state was just too awful.

Balthier took in the image of the shaken up girl as she stood there peering at him and Fran. She seemed unharmed, if a little rough around the edges. But that was to be expected. He didn't know how she'd managed to get the two of them out of the temple, but he would be sure to get that tale from her, and soon.

He caught another furtive glance from her, and knew he was being assessed in turn. Despite her initial joy at seeing them, it was obvious she was torn. He didn't know whether or not to be insulted by the warring emotions flitting across her features. But if Balthier was being completely honest, he couldn't exactly say he blamed her. So he waited, watching. Penelo had indeed become a sky pirate, he noted. Or rather, she had taken on the look. The bright colored, fanciful clothing, the tattoos, the piercings… Though one look at her open face and Balthier doubted very much she was capable of the more mercenary behaviors of the average pirate, sky or otherwise.

Yes, Penelo was just as he thought he'd find her, a young woman playing at piracy.

Ignoring the uncomfortable yawn of silence between them, Balthier took it upon himself to approach the girl, knowing with certainty that Fran couldn't be relied upon to help break the ice. He pulled out a handkerchief and bowed deeply, formally offering it to Penelo just as he had when they'd first met. "Hold onto this for me, would you? Just until I bring Vaan back…once again." Balthier smiled as earnestly as he could, hoping to ease the moment.

As olive branches went, it was very well received. Penelo peered at Balthier intently for a few leaden seconds. Then she laughed at the obviously nostalgic maneuver, and threw her arms around Balthier's neck--earning a surprised grunt from the senior sky pirate. She knew in that instant she'd forgiven them both. "It's really good to see you," she said softly into his shoulder. Then Penelo turned to Fran and smiled more shyly. "It's good to see you too, Fran. Welcome aboard the Galbana, both of you."

"Thank you, Penelo." Balthier inclined his head and smirked, pretending _not_ to be terribly relieved that their reunion had so far been free of acrimony. Of course, it was also only half complete. "Now, I believe we have a ship's captain to get reacquainted with?"

Penelo's pleased excitement drained away completely. "He's…uhm…well, I put him…" She took a deep, bracing breath, releasing it in a huff. "Vaan's in the infirmary." She shifted her eyes uncomfortably up the belly of the ship.

"Is he now?" Balthier rubbed his chin thoughtfully, noting her intense unease. This wasn't likely to be pleasant then. He quickly rejected another stab of guilt before it could settle into his chest. "Has he gotten any worse?"

"Worse? I'm not sure what worse is. He's definitely got an extra passenger, if you know what I mean. And I suppose you do." She rocked back and forth on her heels nervously. "So…I don't suppose you're ready to fill me in?"

Balthier didn't answer, but rather he put a hand to the small of her back and amicably gestured for Penelo to lead the way. He caught Fran's glance for a moment, searching her dusky face for input. In a traditional fit of equivocal aloofness, the Viera merely shrugged. Balthier rolled his eyes at his partner's unhelpfulness and followed Penelo deeper into the belly of the ship. "First things first, Penelo--I just realized, I need to see your ship's bridge so I can let certain concerned parties know we met up with you on schedule."

Penelo's indelicate snort echoed through the long deck. "You just want to avoid Vaan chewing your ear off." Left unsaid was that it only mattered if Vaan was himself when they got there. And that wasn't likely.

"Hardly, my dear," Balthier gestured dismissively. "Leading men never avoid a good conflict."

It was Fran's turn to roll her eyes.

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They were nearly to the bridge and Penelo couldn't help digging for more answers. "Balthier, you still haven't said where you've both been? We've been all over the continents searching for you. Vaan's been worried into knots." She hadn't meant to sound so accusing, but there they were, talking like no time at all had passed. Like Balthier and Fran hadn't been missing for two years. Like she and Vaan hadn't torn their hearts out searching for them for what seemed like forever.

Balthier had been hoping to put this off, as he wasn't yet ready to face all their questions. The answers rang too loudly of culpability and he hadn't as yet, wound the rationale around to a comfortable perspective so he wouldn't feel as though he were condemnable for his actions. A smart man never went to trial when he was guilty. And Balthier considered himself a _very_ smart man. "It's no simple thing to explain, my dear. Nor can I speak of everything, as yet. But I can tell you we've been performing some very vital, if _unofficial_ services for particular Royalty."

"Larsa?"

"The very same." Balthier climbed into none other than the Captain's seat, ignoring Penelo's sharp look. He gestured airily. "You and Vaan aren't the only ones to have maintained an acquaintance with our young Solidor," he observed dryly.

Penelo crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him defiantly. "Yeah, well. You'll forgive us if we didn't realize, since you were hiding out from your friends along the way."

_Alright_, he thought. _So the would-be-piratesse has teeth after all_. Balthier caught Fran's amused expression, it seemed to scream '_I told you so_'. He contemplated this might not be as easy as he'd hoped. Balthier's welcoming truce with Penelo apparently required careful treading, and Fran was satisfied to let him wallow over that minefield without support. He'd been a fool to think it would be otherwise. Balthier ignored Fran's clicking tongue in the background, shaking his head. Few would believe how much the Viera liked to tease him. She insisted it was for his own good, and maybe it was. However, that didn't stop his dear partner from enjoying every fallible moment. That was his Fran, ballast for his fly-away ego, herald of his every shortcoming.

Balthier stowed away thoughts of evil, evil recompense and reached for the long range communicator. He was about to call the capitol, when the door to the bridge opened. An instant later he heard Penelo gasp.

Balthier froze, watching said girl's shocked expression from the corner of his eye. He took a fortifying breath, squared his shoulders and casually swiveled his seat about. Peripherally, Balthier noted with no small satisfaction that Fran had her crossbow at hand, loaded and cocked. _'Good girl_,' he thought. Now if he could just get the Arcturus to position, without causing a fracas...

_First things first._ He took a good long look into a face he hadn't seen for nearly 2 years, except in his dreams.

It was both worse and better than Balthier had expected. The younger man had grown a bit, and filled out some. He was dressed more befitting his vocation as a pirate as well. Balthier could only think that under normal circumstances, the lozenge patterned blue doublet would have suited Vaan's coloring very well. This was, however, hardly normal circumstances. Vaan was on his feet, and that was very nearly all Balthier could say of his health. Though perhaps it was starry-eyed nostalgia that made the changes seem so wretched. For anyone who didn't know the desert born youth, nothing great might have seemed amiss. Balthier took a harder look, taking in several subtle changes, none of them good. The glowing blue eyes, the oddly sallow, sweaty skin--so unlike the sunny adolescent he remembered. But the menacing tilt to the pale head, the expression of nonchalant cunning, that was perhaps worst of all. Penelo had been right to gasp.

This _wasn't_ Vaan.

Balthier was about to inquire of whom it _was_ he faced, when a voice that was both Vaan's and not, spoke. "This child recognizes you." It wasn't an observation so much as an accusation. The voice was a duality, composed of a lyrical core that was Vaan's, overlaid by something far darker--something distinctly non-hume. The entity looked keenly at Balthier, cruel amusement reflecting in it's blue, blue eyes.

Penelo made a strangled noise, and Balthier caught a glimpse of her covering her mouth in horror. "Easy Penelo, stay calm," he gestured for her to remain still. The girl needed not to lose it here. Now was_ not_ a good time. He'd let her break apart later. He'd even play the gallant and hold her while she did it. But right now, he needed no distractions, no surprises.

Balthier shifted his stance a bit, to start making the Arcturus more available. "The boy _would_ recognize me. We're comrades." He didn't know where he was going with the embryonic conversation, only that talking bought him time.

His stomach dropped sickly when Vaan's lips spread slowly in a disturbingly rapacious grin--very unlike anything he'd ever seen before on the boy's features. "No," came the eerie two-toned voice. "No comrade of his. The child lies in the dark, dreaming of betrayal." Vaan's unnaturally bright eyes narrowed at Balthier. "Dreaming of abandonment."

Balthier scowled deeply. "Now you're just fishing," he scoffed. "Let Vaan go. It won't serve you to keep him captive." Balthier had his gun free now and brought it around to sit upon his lap, the most casual of threats. "I won't forbear acting against you just because of him."

"Balthier!" Penelo cried, jumping up.

Immediately, the creature in Vaan's form tracked her movement, eyes narrowing in a calculating fashion.

"Be silent and don't move!" Balthier hissed at the girl, internally cursing her inability to recognize the danger she was putting Vaan in. If the creature took after her, he would be forced to shoot it--and therefore Vaan--to protect her. Because _if_… No, he wouldn't contemplate failure._.. When_ Balthier got the young sky pirate out of this mess, Vaan would be horrified to know he'd hurt Penelo while possessed. So Balthier would be forced to protect Vaan from her rashness, even if that meant putting a bullet in the boy before he did something he couldn't live with later.

Thankfully though, Penelo obeyed--albeit reluctantly, and slowly backed down.

After a moment, the creature languorously shifted its attention back to Balthier, periodically giving Fran a curious glance. "You, hume, are not skilled with this desert child," it said at length. "We know his mind. Despite his anger, the child has such lovely faith in you. You won't harm him, not even to harm us. This we know." The entity smiled smugly. It closed its eyes, inhaling deeply, seeming to savor something. "Trust… It has been long since last we felt it so achingly true. This one shines pure, indeed--a lovely vessel." Then it's eyes snapped open, pinning Balthier with a challenging leer.

This wasn't going at all as Balthier had hoped, not that Balthier had possessed a firm plan when he arrived. He had to gain control of the situation, fast. The creature was startlingly intelligent, already using Vaan's memories against them. "The boy can't get you what you want. You may as well give him up."

"And go where? Do what, head-blind child of the sky?" the creature snarled, glowing eyes flashing for an instant. "You, who cannot even see within yourself know nothing of our wants, or the desert child's role in them."

Balthier recognized an impasse when he saw one. He'd feared this very thing when he first learned of Vaan's plight. "This is getting us nowhere, and it's grown beyond tiresome. So let me put it another way." Balthier brought the Arcturus to bear, pointing it at the creature's head--locking away his heart to the potential cost if this went awry. "Vaan would prefer death to being controlled by a monster like you. This, _I _know. So you _will_ let him go, or I _will_ shoot."

Penelo started to object but he silenced her again with a stern, warning look.

The creature smiled again, that unflatteringly calculating smirk that Balthier was growing to hate. "Monster?" it echoed, amused. "A quaint term. No monsters are we. We are the first children. We…"

"LET HIM GO!" Balthier was done jousting with words. He cocked the gun and took a step forward. Fran brought up her crossbow as well.

"Balthier, no!" Penelo jumped ahead of him, intent upon getting between them. "You can't!"

"I can and _will_. Now stop interfering!" He grabbed the girl by the wrist and yanked her hard behind him, taking aim.

Hardly the response Balthier had hoped for, the creature seemed even more amused. "We will meet again, child of the sky." And then the unnatural blue glow faded from Vaan's eyes and he took a stumbling step forward before his knees buckled beneath him and he crumpled to the floor.

"Vaan!" Penelo gave her wrist in his grasp a vicious yank and Balthier finally let her go. She skidded to the the floor beside Vaan's prone form, swallowing a sob.

Balthier gave Fran another look. This time he saw all he needed. The Viera appeared oddly spooked, her long ears laid back, twitching expectantly. "Be careful, Penelo," he warned. Balthier stowed his gun and stepped forward, kneeling down and feeling under the fallen youth's chin for a pulse.

"Get away from him!" Penelo cried out, shoving his hand away. "You were supposed to help him, not try to shoot him!" She was at the end of her rope with everything. How had Balthier, of all people, been ready to kill Vaan?

Balthier was about to argue the point, but again found himself disinclined to either defend his actions or trade words. "Fran, a little help here," he said in a disgusted tone, gesturing to the girl.

Fran could sense what the encounter had cost her partner. Nonplussed as he appeared, he was deeply affected by what he'd gambled. For the moment, Balthier needed temperance not confrontation with the young hume. She'd always possessed a certain rapport with Penelo, so it wasn't long before she was coaxed aside, making room for Balthier to gently untangle the boy's limbs from their awkward sprawl. "Balthier will not harm him," Fran assured her. "In that the _Nethirym_ speaks true."

"Nethirym?" Penelo asked, staring desperately at the first person to give her more than empty platitudes.

The Viera gave her a solicitous pat and then moved to the other side of her partner. Balthier had drawn Vaan up against him, inspecting the desert youth's slack features. "The creature within him is Nethirym," Fran explained in her oddly clipped accent. "An ancient race of creatures who once tried to consume the Sun-Cryst and were changed by it forever."

"The Sun-Cryst?" Penelo couldn't fathom it, having once witnessed the stone's sheer power. Not that she was able to fathom _any_ of this so far. She waited, watching Balthier's normally sure hands skate across Vaan's still form.

Satisfied that Vaan hadn't injured himself in the fall, Balthier's patted the youth's face to rouse him. He drew his fingers back, surprised by the heat in the sallow cheeks. "He's fevered, Fran." Balthier tried to sound casual, but wasn't banking on how successful he was.

If his voice carried a strong thread tightness to Fran's sensitive ears, she chose not to acknowledge it. Instead she momentarily met his eye, her clawed fingers fleetingly brushing the back of his neck. A touch to ground and strengthen.

After a moment, Balthier turned his gaze on Penelo. "How long has he been this way, far too warm?"

"Well...uhm, I noticed he was warmer right after he first touched the stone. And later, whenever the…the _Nethirym_ took over." Penelo was at least glad to have finally been given a name for their trouble. Anything with a name could be defeated, Vaan always had said.

She only hoped he was right.

"Did his temperature drop any, after the creature receded?" Balthier found the unnatural heat radiating off the boy disturbing, to say the least. A fever like that could consume a hume, in no time.

Unfortunately, Penelo didn't have any more answers for him. And Balthier didn't push. The young woman was frayed enough as it was.

Vaan jerked in Balthier's grip just then, announcing himself with a hoarse groan. The sky pirate smiled guardedly. "There you are. Can't keep a good pirate down, eh?" But Vaan didn't seem to be finding consciousness easily. The older pirate patted the boy's face firmly. "C'mon Vaan. You can't lay about all day."

Eventually, tired eyes fluttered open and Balthier was never so relieved to see the natural, soft gray. The boy was himself again.

Vaan's gaze focused, and the incredulous expression on his drawn face was comical. "B...Balthier? Is…Is it really you?" Vaan tensed in his grasp and tried to pull away.

Balthier gripped the youth firmly, not prepared yet to let him up. He'd come too close to having to do the unthinkable, too close to loosing this game before he'd a chance to make repairation. "Don't look so surprised, Vaan." Balthier's lighthearted bravado was a thin ghost of its normal self--bogged down with unchecked emotion. "Leading men _always_ show up, right when they're needed most."

Penelo chose that moment to cut in. "If you'd been here when he needed you most, he wouldn't be in this fix." The undisguised venom in her words meant nothing to Balthier. He was already thinking the same thing.

Vaan was barely aware of the exchange, his eyes already drifting shut again. "I... I always wondered... " His voice trailed off.

Balthier gave the youth a shake, enough to jar him open-eyed. "Enough of that for now, Vaan. Stay awake."

An vaguely annoyed look took over Vaan's features. "...Can't boss me 'round anymore. Get ov'r yourself." Vaan managed a vexed frown, even half lidded.

"Vaan, this isn't..." Balthier stopped when one of Fran's hands clamped on his wrist.

"Let him speak a moment," she said simply. Despite the grip, it was the look she gave that silenced him.

Balthier watched as Vaan struggled to gather resources--fighting down a small knot of frustration as he counted the seconds flying by. He wasn't at all happy with what the Nethirym was enacting as a cost on its host, especially this early in the game.

Penelo took her friend's hand and squeezed. "Maybe Balthier's right, Vaan. Later would be better. You're not up to this," she offered quietly, stroking his fingers.

Vaan shook his head, struggling against the pull of sleep. He had so much to say, so much to ask. It infuriated him that he was there at the moment he'd been waiting years for and he hardly had strength to speak. One thing had to get out though. "You...you owe me an explanation. Dammit... It doesn't have to be pretty," he sighed. "I just need...I need to know _why_."

Balthier's stomach twisted at the quietly earnest demand. So simple, so straight forward. So _very_ Vaan. The desert youth had never been anything if not tenaciously to-the-point. One helluva poor trait for a sky pirate, in Balthier's esteemed opinion. Inconvenient at very least, but startlingly endearing all the same. "There'll be plenty of time for useless histrionics. But as Penelo wisely said, later. And only once you're not possessed by anything more unseemly than you usually are," he offered cheekily. Balthier knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he wasn't ready just yet. So it was just as well Vaan wasn't either.

Vaan rolled his eyes and snorted softly. "Only _you _could say some flowery crap like that with a straight face," he whispered. He'd spent his ounce of stamina and had nothing left. But Balthier was _really_ there. He couldn't refuse the small smile tugging at his lips. He'd finally found him.

"But of course, Vaan." Balthier quipped gently as he resignedly watched Vaan lean into unconsciousness. "We leading men get all the best lines."

If Vaan had intended to say anything more, it slipped away before he was able. His eyes slid closed, and what little tension was left in him drained away.

Balthier hauled the youth up, grunting under the weight, and made for the Bridge's exit. "Come with me, Penelo. It's time we spoke a bit"

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_My brain tends to collate chapters into vaguely 3000 word (or so) rhythms. So it takes a while to get anywhere in a longer story that way. Ergo please forgive the drawn out pace of all this, I PROMISE it's going somewhere. I have it all outlined and everything! (Elfkin holds up the shiny outline for everyone to 'oohh' and 'aahhh' at…) I will try my best to lengthen the chapters for the sake of pacing.  
_

_And thanks to those of you who have reviewed so far! It means a great deal. I hope you will continue to want to read._


	5. Chapter 4

Okay… This one is a filler chapter. Filler, filler, filler, and nothing but.

Did I happen to mention Filler?

Plus, this chapter is paced oddly. (ducks flying fruit) And Vaan is still not cooperating. In fact, he went all "bodice ripper consumptive maiden" on me. And if I could possibly warn you of too much, (unlikely at this point) Balthier belongs less in an adventure fic and more in something pulpy and published under some drivel spouting harlequin pen name.

There is also much appearance of a bowl with water in it. I just couldn't get the darn thing to go someplace else!!!

Penelo gets a bit of hers back. And well, there is more ambiguity, still no answers. (And just so you know how restrained I'm being...My daughter and I wanted to name Balthier's brother "Gheazus Cryst Bunansa" pronounced surprisingly rather like "Jesus Christ Bunansa". Only we decided that in order to take him seriously, we'd better not.)

Ahahahahahahaaa!

Disclaimer: You know the drill, still not mine. See, they have clothes on. ;p

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**Ark of the Nethirym**

Chapter IV

Being old fashioned about some things meant occasionally owning a certain happy practicality. Until now, it had never occurred to Penelo that the privileged classes might lack that same practicality, simply because they _were_ privileged. And never before had the difference between her upbringing and Balthier's seemed so obvious as when none of the potions had any effect on Vaan's fever.

Magical palliatives weren't a recourse either. Firstly, Vaan wasn't ill, he was possessed. So no Cleanse spell would probably work. Secondly, before leaving to pilot the Strahl back to Archades, Fran reminded Balthier there could be dire consequences if _any_ magick was used upon Vaan while the Nethirym inhabited him.

That apparently left Balthier somewhat stumped. It was only too obvious that Vaan was suffering, but in the lavish world of fugitive noblemen cum daring sky pirates; no potions, no magicks, no solution. Penelo was left to conclude that going from youthful aristocrat to airborne privateer hadn't necessarily afforded Balthier a lot of concrete experience making do with less than formal remedies.

On the other hand, despite becoming rather used these days to applying potions or magick to cure an ill, Penelo had grown up relatively ignorant of most white magic. In her youth, she'd been accustomed to using other methods, and they _did_ help. So Penelo immediately set to making do with what mundane items she had on hand.

"Here, Balthier," she said, handing a wet hand towel to him. "Lay this on his head," She noticed the incredulous glance he gave her. "Trust me, it helps."

He took the proffered towel. "Primitive," Balthier opined skeptically.

"Effective," Penelo countered with assurance she had rarely ever felt in the face of the elder pirate's superior experience. However, she was grown up now, not like the last time they'd seen each other. And taking care of people--especially Vaan--was where _she_ excelled.

It wasn't Balthier's forte.

_Not yet, anyway_, she thought as she watched him arrange the cloth on Vaan's brow, tweaking it several times until it achieved some criteria only the sky pirate himself could name. She quickly covered her smile. It wouldn't do for Balthier to realize his fixations were so amusing.

Penelo retrieved the bowl she'd prepared and set it by the bed. "This is just chilled water, with spirits." She took a moment to observe Vaan, satisfied that he must be getting at least some relief. He was finally settled. "When the cloth gets warm again, cool it here and replace it. If you feel particularly adventurous…" she grinned cheekily. "You can use it to bathe him a bit, like so," and she demonstrated, sweeping the cool cloth lower, along Vaan's chest and belly. "But don't go overboard and let him get chilled."

Penelo was rewarded with Balthier's glare. If the situation hadn't been what it was, she really _would_ have enjoyed teasing him. As it was, someone had to stay with Vaan, and someone had to fly them to the capitol. Penelo had already informed Balthier he _wasn't_ flying Vaan's ship. He just wasn't. Not while she was able.

At least, that's what she'd told him.

Truth be known, Penelo was horrified by the creature within Vaan. She felt dreadfully guilty about it. It was clear that whatever the Nethirym's ultimate goal, in the meantime it was wreaking havoc on her best friend. She took another glimpse at Vaan, brushing an errant lock of sweat damp hair from his cheek. He looked pitiful...beyond harmless. But Penelo feared it only meant the creature was lurking, just waiting for a chance to awaken again.

The thought of being alone with it when it did, terrified her.

Of the two of them, Balthier seemed to have handled the situation on the bridge better, facing the Nethirym with his legendary aplomb. So Penelo would let him. "Once I take off, we'll be in Archades in a few hours," she offered, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

Balthier arched a brow but refrained from remarking that he knew better than most _exactly_ how long the trip took, while Penelo stood there wringing her hands. Balthier wrote off her anxiety as mere worry, and patted her arm. "We'll sort this out, Penelo. Once we land, Larsa has specialists who can help with this."

Ashamed but resigned to leaving Balthier behind with Vaan was one thing. The man had all the nurturing skills of a rabid cactoid, but she knew him...at least she had. However, Penelo most certainly _wasn't_ leaving Vaan in the hands of strangers--especially any of the scientific ilk. "I'm not sure I _want_ any Archadian specialists anywhere around Vaan," Penelo said crossly. Besides which, Balthier still knew far more than he was sharing, and Penelo was growing more suspicious by the minute. "You still haven't explained any of this, and I'm getting tired of you dodging me." She looked down on Vaan, so still and unlike himself. Vaan had always been motion in her world, the ever active axis she centered herself by. The stillness just wasn't...right.

Her temper flared. "He's_ sick_, Balthier! And you won't tell me anything!"

Balthier attributed his own unusually short temper to the stiflingly small infirmary. Cramped spaces always made robbed him of composure. So he took a deep breath, reminding himself that the girl had been through a great deal very recently. "This requires a special..."

Penelo cut him off. "He can't protect himself right now. As his partner, as his best friend, that falls to _me_." _And you weren't here to help him when he needed you_, she thought sourly.

"And who, my dear, is going to protect you," he demanded with a forced reserve. Balthier was getting rather tired of shortsighted children going off half-cocked and ruining his plans. Not that he was following a particularly tight script at the moment. Still, the least she could do was defer to his greater wisdom.

"Balthier, I want answers. I want to know what's going on. And I want to know _now!_" Penelo felt like she'd come apart at the seams if answers didn't materialize soon. Half her fears were born in the impotency of not knowing, not understanding what was happening to them--to _him_. It was mean-spirited for Balthier to hold that information back any longer. He wouldn't be allowed to sit here, in her and Vaan's home, and continue to hurt them, even by omission. She'd leave him stranded on the Steppe first.

The stubborn set to her chin, the fiery stare... Perhaps it _was_ time Balthier rationed out a bit more information. He'd promised, after all. "I think once you've been caught up you'll realize that Fran and me being incommunicado for so long was--though unfortunate--very necessary all the same."

"And _I _disagree. You hurt him, and I've had to sit by and watch it the whole way. So don't tell me this was _unfortunate_." Penelo crossed her arms and scowled a challenge. Given what she and Vaan had been through to find him and Fran--given what Vaan was still going through right now, she didn't know that _any_ justification would _ever_ be enough.

"Fair enough," Balthier tapped his chin, thoughtfully. "Then I'll start by saying that I find Archadian politics as noisome and distasteful as ever--but I'm no fool. I'll be the first to owe that being a sky pirate is easier without having the added challenge of dodging a civil conflict--since war profiteering _isn't_ my style. And thanks to our last adventure together, lucrative quests in service to the 'right' cause have become my stock in trade, or so everyone seems to think. I can't begin to tell you how inconvenient that is." He paused watching the girl for a moment.

Penelo stared at him, frowning expectantly. "And I should care about that why?"

Balthier shook his head ruefully. "Patience Penelo. A good tale is worth the time it takes to tell it. Larsa approached us with a request--Fran and I agreed to help. For old times sake, of course. We've been busy unraveling a potential plot against the Emperor, _possibly_ involving my family. It may well mean civil war in Archadia if we fail."

"Civil war!" Penelo gasped. "Larsa..."

"Indeed. You see my quandary, then. I couldn't very well leave the boy to the wolves--even with our stalwart Basch guarding him so carefully." Balthier let the girl absorb all of that for a moment, noting that Vaan was once more stirring restlessly. He wrung out the cloth and followed Penelo's directions--awkwardly at first, oddly disturbed that such an intimate touch was so easily turned to clinical purposes. Though Balthier was amazed when after a few moments it actually seemed to calm the youth once again. Whenever Balthier had a fever, _he_ simply took a potion or used magic--followed by a generous cup of vintage serpentwyne, of course. Everything worked better when aided by expensive potables. This roundabout charlatanism Penelo had him performing wasn't anything he'd ever given serious thought to. Not that Balthier found it necessarily unpleasant, taking care of Vaan in this fashion. Not precisely. It was more that he'd rather have just mended things the way he was accustomed to. The expedient way. The proper way. He'd rather _not_ just sit there with nothing but a cold rag, letting Vaan boil away in his own sweat. He just didn't have any choice in the matter, for the moment.

"Balthier," Penelo asked at length, having waited, watching while he tended Vaan. It seemed the sky pirate was able after all. "You mentioned your family..." Balthier eyed her askance and she couldn't blame him. If only she had a tactful way to proceed. "I... I thought _you_ were the only one left after, well… uhm... Ridorana." Penelo still remembered how Balthier had been, right after Cidolfus had fallen--and she simply _didn't_ know how to delicately step around his loss.

As it turned out, she needn't have been concerned. Balthier let out a noise that wasn't quite a laugh. "The only Bunansa left? Goodness, no! I have cousins aplenty and an older brother to boot."

Penelo snapped her jaw shut, aware suddenly that it was hanging open. "You... _You_ have an older brother?"

Balthier couldn't help but smirk. "Indeed. I had two, once upon a time. The eldest fell long ago when I was barely more than a boy--during a skirmish with Rossarian forces."

Penelo was aghast at his seeming indifference, that much was obvious to Balthier. He didn't bother explaining that he came from a different world--one where brothers weren't sacred, they were competition. Nothing short of roadblocks to navigate in the pursuit of attaining goals, and sometimes roadblocks to survival at all. Heirs to Noble Houses were infant sharks, consuming each other at the merest sign of weakness, until only the strongest remained. Even Larsa knew that now. Balthier could barely remember a time when he'd regarded either of his brothers as Vaan still regarded Reks. "My remaining sibling is Judge Cirahzeo Dremhen Bunansa, Commander of the Dreadnought class Ramuh, flagship of the 10th fleet. He holds all my father's titles and estates now, a fine upstanding example of Archadian Nobility." Balthier shook his head, smirking. "I assure you, Penelo--my father's passing left me no titled responsibilities I didn't embrace while he lived."

What Balthier didn't volunteer was what Cidolfus' passing _had_ left him with--a rather nagging sense of accountability for his father's part in the last war. So it hadn't been hard to coax him into involvement in Larsa's difficulty. Especially since Larsa was craftier with words than most men three times his age. "However, titles or not, Our young Emperor knew the words to gain my service. He isn't anything if not savvy at exploiting people's vulnerabilities. Give him a few years and he'll be twice the agile plotter his brothers ever were."

"Balthier!"

"Don't look so affronted, my dear," Balthier stretched lazily back, locking his fingers behind his head. "You've obviously forgotten how easily _Lamont_ fell into traveling with us."

Penelo didn't know what to say to that. They'd all had first hand experience with how artful Larsa could be. 'Tactical genius' was too mild a term. "He won't put it to bad use," she asserted softly, hating Balthier for the seed of doubt he'd planted so well. She wanted to trust Larsa implicitly. She needed to. But now...

"I think the lad has a good nature, for the most part," Balthier offered at length. Then he shrugged. "But never forget, he's a Solidor. They _all_ believe what they do is for the higher good. Even Vayne thought he was doing something great for all of Ivalice." Balthier took little satisfaction in watching his words sink in. The girl was still remarkably naive, something he was always torn about remedying in others. In this case though, naivety could be an impediment to survival later on--for her _and_ for Vaan. "Put those you hold dear on the lea side of your trust, Penelo. Very few are worthy of your faith in them."

Penelo chewed over Balthier's warning, wondering if he considered himself one of those who _was_. The sky pirate himself had always acted with a nobleman's sense of entitlement, even having professed leaving that life. Penelo sighed. She wasn't ready to tackle any of this, certainly not the idea that a young Vayne Carudas Solidor might not have been very different from Larsa. "I'm almost tempted to boot you off the ship and set wing away from both you and Larsa. This is all too..." She took a deep breath and met Balthier's eye. "We've found you now. He knows you're safe. It might have to be enough."

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you. And I think you know why." Balthier said in a grave, dangerous tone, eyeing Penelo speculatively and gesturing to Vaan's sleeping form with a subtle tilt of his head.

"We have safe places to hide too, you know. If I can't trust you, I _don't_ need you," Penelo asserted grimly. "I'll find another way to help him." She didn't know anything useful at all about the Nethirym. But someone other than Balthier and Larsa's scientists _did_. "Unless you tell me what was so important that you had to hurt Vaan... Unless you tell me what's going on, I'll be contacting Fran to pick you up. And then I'll be finding our informant. _ He_ knows what he sent us after. If I can't get answers from you, I'll get them another way."

Balthier's jaw twitched in irritation. But he mastered it. Right now one of them needed to be sensible. "Isn't that where Vaan made his mistake, going to desperate lengths to find answers?"

She hadn't wanted it to turn out this way, but a solid core of cold fury was building none the less. "If the people we trusted hadn't been lying to us all along, he wouldn't have been desperate!" And there it was, the bare truth amid all the unanswered questions. "There wasn't any reliable news of you, so it's obvious now. Larsa lied to us..."

Balthier knew Penelo wanted him to deny it, he could hear it in her voice--a tiny falter of need. Not that he could oblige her. "You need to accept you're dealing with stakes far higher than a few hurt feelings," _If the damn girl would just maintain some objectivity for five minutes_, Balthier thought tiredly.

"A few hurt feelings! Have you looked in that bed? Really looked!" Penelo gestured violently behind Balthier to where Vaan lay. She paced the infirmary for a moment, trying to reign in her anger. How could she have forgotten what an arrogant ass Balthier could be!

"That's my point, Penelo." Balthier met her eyes, when she finally stood before him again--his voice held a quiet sort of finality. "You can't afford to keep making snap decisions."

That stopped her short, as did the oddly earnest look Balthier was surveying her with. "Did you work for him that first year...after the Bahamut?" Penelo whispered.

Balthier paused at the digression. "Yes or no, Balthier," she urged him.

It took a moment while he thought of how he wanted to answer. There were some things he couldn't yet reveal. "Yes, and no," he offered at length.

Penelo gave the ceiling a long-suffering look and folded her arms, sighing crossly. "Maybe more to the point was did he_ tell you_ to hide from us that first year?" She didn't _want_ to know, it wasn't anything she'd ever dreamed needed asking. But she couldn't afford _not _to ask any longer.

"No." Balthier offered without elaboration. _This wasn't meant to be easy_, he told himself.

Penelo sighed in relief. Things between her and Larsa maybe weren't completely unsalvageable then. "So why did..."

"At first it was my own choice. I was waiting to see what Vaan would make of himself--out from under my shadow." Balthier held up a hand to forestall the girl's arguments. "Fran already agrees with you_, _I've heard it all_. _ Only, about the time I was actually listening, we were needed. It was then we came and claimed the Strahl. That was also when it was decided that both of you would be left out of this mess."

"Nice work, that." Penelo observed dryly.

"Penelo..." Though Balthier had to admit, he deserved that. And worse yet, if the truth were known.

"What exactly did he ask of you?" Penelo asked.

Balthier shook his head and smiled. The girl was dogged as a bloodhound. "Several things. At first I helped with a little... hmm... Shall we call it _information brokerage_?"

"You spied for him." Penelo wasn't surprised. Contacts were a specialty of sky piracy, after all.

"That would be one way to put it. A crude way, but a way none-the-less. I was also searching for something he'd set us to find." Balthier waited for the question he knew came next. The girl had _some_ mother wit after all, even if it wasn't enough to stay out of trouble.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Penelo asked quietly.

Balthier watched the girl's face for some sign that she had an inkling of what she was asking. "No... I didn't find it. Not until it was...too late." Balthier made an impatient gesture. "Along the way, he had me keeping tabs on Vaan and you both. A task you made none too easy by hyeing off to every nook and cranny of the continents."

Penelo just stared numbly for a moment, her vision almost going red. "He... He had you watching us?" Not only had Larsa lied to them, he'd had the very people they were so desperately seeking, spying on them! She recalled how receptive he'd been to her panicked call earlier that day… how Balthier had been right there with him, just like he'd known.

He _had_ known!

There was a loud snap in the air and before Penelo realized what was happening, her right hand was on the wrong side of her body, stinging sharply. A moment later she was more aghast that she _hadn't_ known she was about to strike Balthier, than that she'd actually done it.

Given a moment more, she might just do it again.

Balthier, for his part, rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, impressed that his lip was actually split. He ran his tongue experimentally along the inside, tasting blood. "I was wondering when that was coming. I owe Fran 2000 Gil." He casually eyed the girl, standing there clenching her fists at her side, eyes brimming with fury, unable to even speak. "Before she left, she bet me I wouldn't make it to Archades without provoking you to violence." Balthier pulled out another handkerchief and dabbed his lip, amused. He watched her carefully though, until Penelo turned and marched out of the infirmary.

She stomped all the way to the bridge. It wasn't until the Galbana had been in flight nearly half an hour that she was calm enough to realize she never did get any _real_ answers.

Balthier was a dodgy prat.

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The moment the girl was gone, Balthier mended his lip with a whispered spell--immediately cursing himself for letting vanity overcome common sense. It didn't occur to him until too late that the quiescent Nethirym might react as unpredictably to the proximity of magic as it would to actually using it _on_ the boy. He just didn't know enough yet to risk it.

And yet, risk it he had.

He tucked away the bloody handkerchief and leaned in, scrutinizing Vaan's face. He watched for a moment, trying to detect any hint of change, but nothing appeared different. Thick, sweat-clumped lashes laid darkly against fever flushed skin. Dry lips parted slightly, exchanging quick, shallow breaths--the body's attempt at fighting the unnatural heat.

Relieved he hadn't stirred the creature within the boy, Balthier patted Vaan's damp head reassuringly--though which of them needed the comfort more, he couldn't say.

Balthier left his hand lingering in place, and eventually trailed it down along a cheek. He was searching closely again, for another reason this time. It was the first opportunity he'd had to really _see _Vaan--without an audience hanging over him.

He knew it was being self-indulgent, but who would ever know? Balthier's gaze followed his fingers, delicately tracing the line of Vaan's face. The younger pirate was still hauntingly unchanged in many ways--despite the Nethirym's influence. Though Balthier noted, with a satisfaction bordering on pride, that there was less roundness to the comely features. The last of a child's face, the first of a man's.

In line with Balthier's expectations, the almost _lovely_ boy Vaan had been was on the verge of strikingly handsome manhood. A face that would draw countless flocking to him, greedy to claim that beauty. And yet _somehow_ the youth had remained untouched so far. "Gah!" Balthier growled disgustedly to himself. "Less than a day back in your presence and I already sound like some lovesick moogle." That didn't stop Balthier though. He continued to fondly study the younger man.

Eventually Vaan grew restless again, his face creasing in discomfort. Balthier sighed, wondering how long this could even last. "Fine mess you've gotten yourself into, Vaan," he groused quietly. "If the thrice-damned Nethirym doesn't become a more amenable passenger, you're going to burn up before we ever get it out of you,"

When Vaan didn't settle immediately, Balthier stripped the thin coverlet back and began bathing him to his waist. It was a battle, ignoring the urge to draw the blanket a few inches lower. Vaan would never know. Of course, Balthier would go to his grave never so desperate or pathetic that he'd ogle an ailing, unconscious man. Not even Vaan. There would be time for that when all was resolved--when the Nethirym was destroyed, when Vaan was safely himself again. Then he'd take care of that pesky issue of the boy's virginity.

It was several minutes before Vaan subsided. By then Balthier thoughts had turned to brooding. Fran would've used harsh words if she knew he was indulging in defeatist thinking, especially this early in the game. However, it'd been mere hours since Balthier first spoke with Penelo from Larsa's private chambers, and yet it felt like days. Too much happening in too short a time. It didn't bode well for saving Vaan, or stopping whomever it was that wanted to use Cidolfus' pre-Giruvegan work to tear Archadia wide open.

_Cidolfus_…_you old bastard. Is this some convoluted plan of yours? Did you need to steal from me so badly you'd do it from the grave?_

Balthier had been cursing the boy for getting past his defenses only just that very day. Now he was cursing his father's name, and wondering if he would ever be free of the Bunansa Patriarch's machinations. The Galbana would port in the capitol soon, and then what? Balthier hadn't been completely honest with Penelo, not by half. They didn't _really _have a plan, at this point. They were punting, so to speak.

It had taken them too long to assemble the intelligence, too long to reason out what their enemy was searching for. Once mobilized, the _whole_ goal had been to either secure or destroy the creature _before_ it could be used. But they'd come to it woefully late. And neither he nor any of Larsa's spy network had anticipated that the opposition would use Vaan, of all people, to do their work for them. Not until it was too late to do more than hope for the best.

Balthier snorted derisively. He'd been a fool for underestimating Vaan and his unerring ability to find trouble. Of all the times for the irrepressible brat to be one step ahead of him.

Their enemy was good and slippery. Vaan and Penelo had been led into a trap without even realizing it was the ancient Temple of Glabados they'd gone to. And now the Nethirym was awake and within a host. But how did that tie into the plot against Larsa? Someone out there had specifically wanted _Vaan_ to find the ancient cache, before Balthier and Fran did. And to his great remorse, Vaan had done just that.

_But to what end?_ Balthier shook his head. They had a ball full of knotted yarns, and no way to untangle them.

With his father's work at play, it was altogether possible that Vaan had been chosen to host the creature as a way to strike at Balthier. But then that required their enemy to be conversant on his desires for the boy. And Balthier was sure it was his secret alone. Well, his and Fran's. No Vaan had been chosen for another reason...perhaps because of his closeness to the Emperor.

Now _that_ bore more thinking upon.

Looking down on the youth, contemplating everything going to hell--Balthier felt very old. But then he'd always known, nothing made you age like giving a damn. Yet another reason to avoid attachments whenever possible.

Balthier stretched out beside the sleeping youth, trying to clear his mind of the nagging sense he was missing something important right in front of him. But gaining peace was difficult at best. The close quarters left him feeling smothered. Combined with the disconcerting knot of helplessness coiling in his gut--something Balthier struggled to cope with at the best of times--the oppressive size of the room left him more than on edge. Fran, over the years, had tried convincing him he suffered from claustrophobia. It was times like these when he was tempted to believe her.

Balthier was about to step into the hallway for air, when he froze, sensing eyes upon him.

He looked to Vaan, and amber met gray for the second time that afternoon. Just as before, an immeasurable weight lifted from Balthier's chest upon seeing Vaan's exhausted gaze free of the Nethirym's influence. He leaned up on his elbow and smirked provocatively. "Hello again," Balthier offered in a sultry tone, leaning in low. "I'll have you know, this isn't at all how I imagined our first time in bed together."

"Balthier?" Vaan whispered hoarsely, so completely lost he didn't know what to think. _What's Balthier doing here?_ Vaan felt a chill crawl across his chest and looked down, realizing suddenly that he was naked except for a thin coverlet. There he was, in bed..._naked_...with Balthier of all people. Vaan threw an arm up, covering the ruby flush he knew was overtaking his face. He'd had this dream before. It ended weird. Maybe if he just went back to sleep...

Balthier thought the stark blush was adorable, cute even. He smiled to himself, knowing the youth he'd seen slice down countless beasts in the past wouldn't thank him for such a compromising observation.

However, that didn't make it untrue.

Blinking owlishly from under his arm, Vaan was still trying to take stock. Outrageously suggestive remarks aside, he really had _no_ idea why Balthier was in bed with him. He grabbed the edge of the coverlet, drawing it higher as his glance flitted beyond the sky pirate's shoulder. Vaan searched for anyone else in the room, only to find he was alone with the one person in all of Ivalice he wasn't prepared to see. Certainly not while he was, well, naked... In bed!

And how _had_ he gotten naked? Surely Balthier hadn't taken off his clothes! Vaan lay there aghast, unsure of how he'd ended up in this odd predicament and sadly, even less sure what he should do about it.

Quiet reigned for several minutes, while Vaan chased the scattered fragments of his thoughts. It wasn't really working. Having Balthier shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip might have addled him even on a good day--which this obviously wasn't.

Balthier watched Vaan's face, amused. "Confused a bit?" he cocked a brow at the boy, perversely enjoying the moment. However, Balthier's pesky conscience was soon complaining at him, so after a mere few seconds more of Vaan gaping at him, he took pity on his former apprentice and sat up. "I'm sure it will pass," he added companionably, putting a few vital inches between them.

Vaan gave up trying to figure _anything_ out. Chills crawled across his skin one moment, only to be chased away by aching heat the next. _What the hell, _he wondered? Vaan squirmed around a bit, noting with confusion that his limbs felt watery and weak--like he'd run too long in the desert without rest. And Balthier, he was still watching Vaan with _that_ look... The one that used to make Vaan's stomach quiver all those years ago. Compounding the issue was two years worth of sublimated anger and worry and hurt, roiling around in Vaan's mind, scrabbling to be let out. Vaan wasn't ready to deal with any of it. He didn't know where to even begin.

Watching the battle play out across the youth's haggard features, Balthier took pity, deciding to put an end to the struggle. Vaan was less fit to address that which lay between them than he had been an hour ago on the bridge. There would simply have to be time for this later. As Vaan was struggling upright, Balthier firmly pressed him back into the pillows. Long fingers pressed over dry lips--stilling them just as the younger man was about to protest. "We have much to discuss," Balthier said earnestly. "But it _will_ wait." He took in Vaan's startled expression, and reluctantly withdrew again. "Besides," he continued. "I'll have you know--Penelo already split my lip_, _for _you_ no doubt. I should have let you see it before I healed it. She did a sound job of it."

Vaan's expression morphed into something truly incredulous, making it hard for Balthier not to laugh. "Honestly, the girl's learned to strike much harder since last I saw you both. If she'd have been able to do that two years ago, she_ might_ have been more useful."

It was impossible to do anything but snort out a dry laugh. The thought of Penelo belting Balthier a good one was priceless. She hated violence, generally. But she had a scary streak five fathoms wide and Vaan had no trouble imagining her hitting the smug elder pirate.

Balthier sat next to him, silent, a meager smirk on his lips. A look Vaan remembered so well it made his chest ache. He closed his eyes for a while, resting, searching for his stolen reserves. He drifted some, and might have fallen back asleep except that he could feel Balthier's gaze on him as he lay there.

"Can I get you anything?" Balthier asked at length.

Vaan didn't open his eyes, he just shook his head. Truth was, he was desperately thirsty. But this was all still too odd and he didn't know what he'd do if he couldn't hold the glass and Balthier had to help him. Vaan couldn't deny that underneath the hurt and anger, there were other things lurking. Things Vaan barely had a name for. Things he wasn't ready for yet, but didn't dare deny--having seen them reflected in Balthier's eyes. And though it was clear to Vaan that Balthier was trying hard to make it easier for them to behave normally together, it _wasn't_ easy. In between them, bitter months had turned to years, with no word or news to soften the twisting ache of distance.

Just as Balthier had said, it would have to wait. Vaan frowned as he shoved the door closed on the flood of emotions. Balthier was there beside him. Right there... He refused to do anything more than just enjoy that fact for a bit. Penelo always had said his generous nature made it easy for him to forgive--nature's balance to his short temper. So for now, Vaan wanted to forgive. Tomorrow he would be angry, today he was too relieved.

There were things lurking though, that Vaan knew instinctively couldn't be left for another time. "Balthier, what happened on the bridge, yesterday?" His memory was full of holes, and the disjointed events on the bridge seemed an important place to start.

"Yesterday? Vaan, that was little more than an hour ago." Balthier frowned, worriedly.

Vaan cocked an eye, surprized. "Really?" His sense of time was shot to hell. "It's all very...mixed up," Vaan wanted to say more, but nothing came. The room went abruptly cold again and he shuddered as a strong chill passed through him.

Balthier watched Vaan shiver, seeing the goose-flesh rise on his arms, and pulled up the coverlet higher still, tucking it under the boy's chin. But when he touched the sweat slick cheek again, the sky pirate was shocked at how much hotter Vaan had become, even from what he was before. Penelo's description of an earlier encounter raised an alarm within him. "Vaan..."

Vaan snuck an arm out from under the cover and brought his hand to head, grinding the heel of his hand into his temple. It was starting to pound in earnest. The room was tilting and yet he wasn't even moving. "Balthier... What's happening?" Darkness was eating at the edges of his vision. Something was very, very wrong.

If Balthier answered him, Vaan didn't hear it. His heart leapt in his chest, banging against his ribs as a wave of something indescribable washed through his thoughts. Vaan began remembering...a lot. The stifling darkness, the insidious, hungry presence, the terrifying sensation of being trapped in his own mind. He was overcome with a deep revulsion. There was absolutely _no_ giving into_ that _again, not without a fight! But already Vaan's world was narrowing to a pinpoint of grayed out colors and a pulsing ache in the back of his skull he was fast learning to dread. He struggled against the inky presence picking away at his consciousness, thrashing against the internal assailant.

Through the darkness overtaking him Vaan dimly heard Balthier commanding him to do something. He could feel the older pirate fumbling for his hands, squeezing them hard enough to hurt. It was an oddly anchoring sensation, detached as it was. And just as Vaan was afraid his grasp on awareness was slipping, the _presence_ began to lose ground. Moments stretched on like eternity and Vaan eventually broke it's hold. With one last scrabbling growl so loud to Vaan's mind he wondered if Balthier could hear it, the creature receded.

It was several minutes before Vaan knew for sure he could let his guard down. He didn't know why the _thing _was gone, and didn't care. Laying there panting and gasping for air, he was too wrung out to be anything but grateful. "I…I won, this time," Vaan gasped, sporting a faint, but triumphant smile.

"I see that," Balthier said softly, his own voice heavy and rough with too many emotions to name. Then he realized Vaan was pinned beneath him, arms pulled high. Balthier laid there atop the boy a moment longer, catching his breath before releasing Vaan. His grip had left behind marks on hands and wrists. In short order those would bruise.

Scooting to the edge of the small mattress, as much for himself as for Vaan, Balthier relished the distance. He sat there, gathering his shattered composure, chastising his confused hormones. The last thing either of them needed at this point was his inappropriate response to adrenaline, fear and touching bodies.

Balthier didn't take long to collect himself. One look at the younger pirate had him rooting around in the linens for the misplaced cloth, hating how utterly spent Vaan seemed. Balthier wiped cold sweat from the pale face, his hands still trembling slightly. Long ago, he'd observed Penelo trying and failing to cosset Vaan. He knew only too well how much the youth hated being fussed over. It was a testament to exhaustion that the wilted blond didn't bother to even look up at first, simply laying there as Balthier tended him. Tossing the cloth into the bowl, the sky pirate clenched his fists, waiting for the adrenaline to finish subsiding. A dozen things were going through his head, most of them less than positive. But even so, a small part of him still wanted to crow. Vaan had won. The damnably stubborn little chit had beaten the Nethirym back. The question was,_ how_. And could he continue to? "Choosing its battles, was it," Balthier said at length. Any chance at nonchalance was thwarted by the subtle waver in his voice.

"Yeah… I guess," Vaan huffed, wishing he had the strength to reassure Balthier. In his opinion, a little bravado would go a long way at the moment. "If…if that _thing_ feels half as trashed as I do…no wonder," his laugh was reedy, but it felt good. It felt a little like winning.

Balthier frowned. "I'm afraid we can't do much about that as yet, Vaan." He patted the younger man's shoulder. "But hopefully soon. In the mean time, rest." Balthier gently skimmed fingers over Vaan's brow, coming to rest there for an instant before sliding down to hover over a fluttering artery along his neck. Despite what he found, Balthier almost chuckled. He could tell from the squeak Vaan let escape, the youth had misinterpreted the touch. Vaan's pallor was temporarily livened with an impressive blush once again, and Balthier found the sheer absurdity of the moment pitifully comical. Of all the times for Vaan to confuse his motives... "Relax," he grinned a little rakishly, for effect. "I was just checking a thing or two."

Vaan nodded, unable to care _what _Balthier was up to for long. In fact, he was suddenly finding it hard just to keep his eyes open. He closed them for a moment, meditating on the feel of the Galbana's glossair engines. It was the first time Vaan had been able to take a moment to listen to his ship. His brow furrowed as the moments passed by. No mistake, the Galbana was whining slightly, as though her wing lifts were tilted slightly off-angle a degree of two. It probably wasn't something anyone but him would notice. After a few more minutes of listening, it made his teeth itch. "Balthier," he called breathlessly, cracking his eyes open. "Who's flying my ship?"

"Penelo, of course," Balthier answered as he ran the cooling cloth over Vaan's chest once again. "Why?"

"Can't you hear that?" he groaned, shoving Balthier's hand away and trying halfheartedly to push up.

Balthier stopped Vaan easily enough and then tilted his head, taking a hard listen for himself. The engines were different than the Strahl's, higher in pitch. Still, he thought he might be hearing something that sounded slightly off. He couldn't be sure though, since this was his first time aboard. He arched a brow at Vaan, genuinely curious. "What do _you_ hear?"

"I hear adverse yaw," Vaan panted. "The ship compensates so the ride is still smooth…But Penelo is farking my glossair aileron spoilers!" Vaan gritted his teeth, trying to catch his breath. If only the damn room would quit spinning...

"Lie still and breath slowly," Balthier snapped, but his tone lacked true sharpness. It struck home for him that Vaan was grown. A sky pirate in his own right, a captain who knew his ship like no other. For reasons Balthier couldn't name, it was a very bittersweet realization.

"Balthier…" Vaan ground out. "The ship will use more fuel flying this way. Plus..." Vaan struggled to finish explaining, frustrated and upset that his ship was being flown by someone else--even if that someone else _was_ Penelo. She knew how to fly the ship well enough, but she lacked some innate instinct for doing it expertly. He'd told her a dozen times to watch the wing angles. _And dammit, It's my ship, __I'm the best one to fly it._

Balthier wrested the choice away, planting his palm firmly in the center of Vaan's chest. "Stay down. Just tell me how many degrees she has to adjust them and the pitch direction."

Vaan struggled a moment more then resigned himself, flopping back. He listened to his ship, and after a moment raised two shaking fingers, then gestured downwards with his thumb. He sunk into the pillows and closed his eyes again.

Balthier grabbed a com unit and gave Penelo instructions to right the wings, two degrees down--with the threat of the real captain dragging himself bridge-side. She didn't need to know what an utterly empty threat it was.

He waited, contemplating that Penelo's main achievement of late was feeding his perverse sense of humor, as a series of choice words were shared over the intercom. _At least now she actually sounds like a pirate._ Momentarily, a small shift in the hum of the Glossair engines confirmed not only that she had followed directions but that Vaan had indeed been correct--the Galbana's wing lifts _had_ been off. Balthier was grudgingly impressed.

He turned back to the bed to confirm the change, only to find Vaan asleep. "Just as well," he quipped, picking up the cloth and cooling it yet again. "You're eminently easier to reason with when unconscious, if I do say so myself." He placed the cloth back on the boy's brow and sighed. "So while I have you a captive audience…" he paused, taking up Vaan's hand. "I must apologize, for all that is yet to come."

Balthier settled in for the remainder of the trip, finally finding a surprising tranquility in his duties--despite the limited accommodations. He contemplated that noblemen and pirates both shared a common lack. Potions and spells were a fast cure--effective, even vital in many situations. Right now, he'd use one in an instant if he could. But he was beginning to think of them as somewhat impersonal. Tools rather than solutions. Balthier decided that once you got used to it, hands-on methods weren't so terrible.

Of course, he would never, ever tell Penelo that.

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_It's me again. Hi! As for what Balthier is missing…well, I figure in the shoot-em-up-western/007 crossover that his life is, he missed out on "comfort first-aid 101". It's something you sorta learn from your momma, and I always imagined Balthier's mother died early in his life. Of course, he would have had a nanny to mother him, like all well bred little Lords. But who says that isn't where some of his issues lie. *wink*_

_Thanks to liankitty, .O, ChaosGarden, The Masked Ottsel and Concise Complexity! You all really are wonderful for reviewing this monstrosity!_


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